Lissoclinum midui Hirose and Hirose, 2011

Hirose, Euichi & Nozawa, Yoko, 2020, Fig. 6 in Bruggmanniella sanlianensis Lin, Yang & Tokuda, 2020, sp. nov., Zoological Studies 59 (19), pp. 1-11 : 4

Lissoclinum midui Hirose and Hirose, 2011

Specimens: NMNS-8141-010 (Gongzibi), -011 (Jialeshuei).

Small colonies comprising 10 or fewer zooids often attached to or partly fused with neighbor colonies ( Fig. 3C ). Colonies were entirely green due to Prochloron cells distributed in the tunic. There was an unknown organ beneath the thorax of each zooid ( Fig. 3D ). This character is unique to L. midui . Tunic spicules were globular ( Fig. 3E ). The type locality of the species was the out reef off Shinri-hama (Kumejima Is., Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan) ( Hirose and Hirose 2011), and it has not been recorded from any other site in the Ryukyus. In Taiwan, this species was first recorded from Lyudao ( Hirose et al. 2014), and the present report is the second distribution record. It is uncertain why the distribution of L. midui is sporadic, but it is possible that microhabitats in Kumejima Is., Lyudao, and the southeast coast may have shared features.

Figures

Fig. 3. Lissoclinum and Trididemnum species. (A, B), Lissoclinum bistratum at Gonzibi (A, colony; B, tunic spicules). (C–E), Lissoclinum midui at Gonzibi (C, colony; D, thorax; E, tunic spicules). (F–H), Lissoclinum punctatum at Gonzibi (F, colony; G tunic phycocyte; H, tunic spicules). (I–L), Trididemnum clinides at Shimen (I, colony; J, tunic spicules; K, unicellular cyanobacteria in the tunic; L, filamentous, multicellular cyanobacteria in the tunic). (M–P), Trididemnum cyclops at Shimen (M, colony; N, tunic spicules; O, enlargement of colony surface showing a zooid; P, thorax). Arrows in O and P indicate pigmentation at the top of endostyle (pigment cap). an, anus; fp, fecal pellet; g, greenish cyanobacteria; n, nucleus of tunic phycocyte; r, reddish cyanobacterium; un, unknown organ. Scale bars: B, E, G, H, J–L, N, and O = 20 µm; D and P = 0.1 mm; O = 0.2 mm.